B.C. $10-a-day daycare expansion on pause; advocates relieved there are no cuts
Why It Matters
The pause on expanding $10-a-day childcare signals an inflection point for a system already strained by high fees, limited access and educator wage concerns. Advocates say the freeze only works if the province uses it to rebuild a model that is fairer to families and workers.
While advocates say they’re relieved that no subsidized childcare spaces will be cut in B.C., they’re urging the province to use a proposed freeze to reset and strengthen the system.
The B.C. government proposed a three-year delay in the expansion of its universal $10-a-day childcare program in its budget this week, preventing any new enrollment.
Families and providers currently in the $10-a-day program will not be affected.
Critics and child-care providers have said the program’s rollout has been too slow, amid funding pressures that raise concerns about potential wage cuts for educators.
Groups also argue the current “lottery-style” model leaves many families shut out, forcing them to pay high fees.
Advocacy groups say it will be an opportunity to address these issues.
“Government appears to have listened to the outpouring of voices arguing the economic case for a child care system with low capped fees, expanded access, and a fair wage grid for educators who are the heartbeat of a quality system,” said Emily Mlieczko, Executive Director of the Early Childhood Educators of BC, in a news release.
However, she said the announcement is not a celebration.
“B.C. has the most expensive child care in Canada; only 10 per cent of spaces are $10-a-Day,” she said.
“Seventy-five per cent of children in B.C. have no access to licensed child care and educators still don’t have a fair wage grid.”
“After two years of no provincial budget increases, B.C. families need to see the government reaffirm its child care commitments and get the ChildCareBC plan back on track,” said Katrina Chen, board director of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC.
The budget allocates $330 million to ChildCareBC to stabilize its programs and services, as the provincial government says it will work to modernize B.C.’s child care system.
B.C. was the first province to join the federal government’s $10‑a‑day child-care program in 2021, followed by Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
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